DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.aohm.2019.007
Publication date: 8th January 2019
Over the last decade, organic solar cells (OSCs) have become a promising technology for next generation solar cells combining novel properties such as light weight, flexibility, or color design with large-scale manufacturing with low environmental impact. However, the main challenge for OSC will be the transfer from lab-scale processes to large-area industrial solar cell fabrication. High efficiencies in the field of OSCs are mainly achieved for devices fabricated under inert atmosphere using small active areas, typically below 0.2 cm2. So far, a small lab scale devices have now reached performances above 17% [1].
In this light, inkjet printed organic solar cells and modules with large area were demonstrated. Inkjet printing allows direct patterning of four layers, including the top electrode, offering full freedom of design without the use of masks or structuring by hardware. Inkjet printed large area (>1 cm2) organic solar cells with power conversion efficiency exceeding 6.5 % deposited from environmentally friendly solvents in an air atmosphere are demonstrated using the same printer. To prove the great advantage of inkjet printing as a digital technology allowing freedom of forms and designs, large area organic modules with different artistic shapes were demonstrated
keeping high performance.
The good module performance at low illumination make our OPV modules good candidates for indoor applications, field in full expansion thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Reported results confirm that inkjet printing has high potential for the processing of OPV, allowing quick changes in design as well as the materials.
[1] L. Meng et al., Organic and solution-processed tandem solar cells with 17.3% efficiency, Science 10.1126/science.aat2612 (2018)